No U-turns for Me this Week

The past few weeks have been overwhelmingly filled with activities, travel, joy and frustration, new experiences and let’s throw in a little dash of stress for kicks.  I won’t list all of the events that have taken place around us, there’s no need, but as I look back over the events of last month, a common thread has tied them all together and has presented itself to me over and over again.  Perhaps it’s a lesson I refuse to learn or a quality I so admire that I keep bumping into it to remind me of its importance in life.  Patience.

As many of you know, patience is not my strong suit.  I always joke that when God was passing out patience, I stood in line with a strainer and most of it ended up on the floor.  (Now, when I stood in line for Organization, I had a steel bucket and was first in line.) Being patient does not come easy for me like it does my dad.  He can sit and be quiet and wait for hours and never complain.  Never.

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If we are patient, then God has time to work and lay out the road before us and lead us where we need to go.  If we rush, we miss the signs, we miss the turn in the road creating a whole other series of events for ouselves.  You have to make a u-turn, possibly ask for directions, fill up with gas and hope there is another on-ramp to the road you were supposed to be on. We create problems for ourselves by not being patient and thinking we know best.

If we are patient, we may still have the struggles that come in life, but the solutions are easier to see, to feel, to hear.  When we slow down and listen, are consciously patient, we see the flowers that grow beside the stop sign we quickly run through. We can feel the warmth of the sun on our backs when we are tired from the day. We can hear our favorite song playing in the restaurant behind all the chatter and forks clanking.  Being patient requires effort on our part to see things differently, to see what God sees in us and our lives.

We live in a world of instant gratification, instant messages, instant downloads, instant coffee, instant everything.  It’s easy, but is easy always better? I don’t think so.  This week I will be patient and listen and then listen some more.  I will learn this lesson and appreciate all Patience has to offer and try my best not to make any u-turns.